Talk to Me
by Bobbie23
Summary: ONE SHOT. A phone call in the middle of the night disturbs Morgan. Sort of prequel to The Other Woman.


AUTHOR NOTE – I got inspired by a paragraph I wrote in _The Other Woman. _ So this is a sort of prequel to that.I hope you enjoy, please let me know what you think.

Talk To Me

'I have had dreams and I have had nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams'

Jonas Salk

With the first shrill outburst of his phone, Morgan bolted upright. He shook his head as he reached for the offending sound, hoping whoever was ringing him at this time of the night had a good reason. His brow creased as he saw Emily's face beaming back at him. Pressing connect, he brought the phone to his ear.

"Hey Em," he said into the phone. Panting greeted him and he felt his instincts kick in. "Emily," he called again. Still there was only panting. Morgan's worry began to escalate. "Emily?" He said again, forcefully.

"Talk to me," was the quiet, hesitant reply. She sounded lost and alone.

"Em?"

"Please just talk to me," she said again. He could hear the fear in her voice, and wondered if there was someone on the other end with her, wondered if she was in danger.

"Is there anyone with you?"

"I'm safe Morgan," Emily assured him, her voice trembling. Morgan could hear the honesty in her tone. "Please talk to me," she pleaded with him as she struggled to control her strangled breathing.

Accepting her assurances, he wracked his brain for something to say. "What about?"

"Anything," Emily told him. "I just need to hear the sound of your voice." Her breathing was still ragged as she spoke.

The moon light filtered in through the blinds as he pressed the phone harder to his ear. Morgan settled back against his head board. Casting a glance at the photo of him holding Emily close to him at JJ's wedding he tried to banish all the images going through his head of Emily petrified and alone. She had called him to comfort her from some unknown terror that she wasn't ready to divulge. She rarely asked for anything, least of all consoling. He felt a sense of pride that she had reached out to him when he was so far away.

"Well, everyone is same as ever. Working a lot, not enough time off," Morgan started, willing his voice to sound casual and normal to mask his worry. He felt completely inadequate as he wasn't sure what she wanted him to say. "We've had lots of consults, not many investigations in the field, so we've spent time catching up on paperwork. You know how much I love paperwork." He paused when at any other time he would have expected a laugh and maybe an eye roll, but none came. Morgan did notice that Emily's breathing had started to even out.

Sitting in the dark, Morgan wished that he could bridge the three thousand plus miles gap between them, so he could he see with his own eyes that she was safe, so he could hold her, comfort her in person. "We've been bored," he heard a hiccup on the other end that could have been mistaken for a strangled laugh.

"We?" Emily questioned with a sniffle.

"Mostly me," Morgan said with a smirk. "Actually, I think Hotch is relieved that you're not here to lead me astray." As he heard her breathing calm and she became a semi-active participant in the conversation, Morgan began to understand what she needed to hear. That it was business as usual. That everyone was alive and safe.

He told her how Reid had insisted to be in charge of Henry's Halloween costume this year; what Strauss' replacement was like; about the new trainees he was putting through takedown certification. After he gave her updates on the rest of the team, she asked him about his mother and sisters to keep him talking.

"She's still pestering me for grandbabies," Morgan glanced at his alarm clock on his bedside table. The sun was going to be rising soon in London. They had been speaking for nearly an hour. Emily had spoken a few times during that time, but it hadn't been the usually self-assured, confident woman he had worked side by side with for nearly six years. There was silence for a while, both of them taking comfort in the other being there. Eventually his curiosity got the better of him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

The sharp intake of breath made him pause, wondering if he had overstepped his bounds. "I had a nightmare," she confessed. His suspicion confirmed, his mind wondered how bad it could have been for Emily to feel the need to ring him to seek refuge from whatever horror had frightened her. "Doyle," Morgan sat up straighter at the mention of the name that still held a power over them, despite its owner being dead and buried. "He killed you, all of you. He made me watch."

From the tone of her voice, he could tell that it had been particularly gruesome. Knowing what kind of man Doyle had been, Morgan was sure it would have slow so as to torture Emily more. "I needed to make sure…" her voice broke as she thought about what she had witnessed, but she managed to stop herself from crying. There was rustling of cloth from the other end, and in his mind's eye he saw Emily tightening the bed covers around her. "Make sure that you were still…"

"He's dead, and I'm right her Emily," Morgan promised her. "Always."

"You always have been," she sniffled.

"And I always will be Emily."

"Don't make promises that you can't keep," she warned him.

"Whenever you need me, I'm going to be there Em." A loud chiming sounded from Emily's end. "What's that?"

"My alarm clock." He heard her shut it off. "I'm sorry I woke you Morgan."

"There's nothing to apologise for Emily. Do you need to go to work straight away?" Morgan asked, not quite ready to let her go just yet.

"No, I've probably got about half an hour till I have to get ready. I set it this early to get some time on the treadmill. If I did go know, you could get some more sleep."

"I don't think that I'll be going back to sleep tonight. But I was wondering, why me? I'm not complaining, I like talking to you, but you could have called anyone Em. Why me?"

There was a pause as Emily gathered her thoughts. "Because you make people around you feel good. I needed that tonight," she admitted hesitantly.

"Hey I'm a good guy." They both laughed lightly as they remembered that time so long ago in an alley, their partnership still new to both of them.

"I'm sorry I disturbed you Morgan," Emily whispered.

"You've disturbed my sleep for years Princess," he flirted, and his joke was rewarded with her unguarded laughter coming through the phone.

"I think you need to find a girlfriend Morgan," she commented and though he had been joking, he felt his heart grow heavy.

"I miss you Em," he told her honestly. "I'll give you a call tonight."

"You don't have to Morgan," Emily was quick to assure him. "I feel much better."

"Yeah, but I figure if you can go to sleep feeling good, maybe you'll have dreams instead of nightmares. Then we'll both get a good night's sleep."

"Only if you want to," she relented.

"Always."

"I miss you, too."

THE END


End file.
